Flight delays possible today

Passengers on some incoming and outgoing flights may experience delays today as air traffic controllers in several European countries including Malta take action in protest against the EU Commission's proposed "single sky" programme.

The Malta Air Traffic Controllers' Association has ordered a "reduction in efficiency" at Malta International Airport.

Association executive secretary Colin Vassallo said that some flights could be delayed by up to 45 minutes as a result of the local action.

However, an Air Malta spokesman said yesterday evening it did not appear that the airline's flights would be hit by the Europe-wide strike.

"Air Malta is monitoring the situation closely. We advise all passengers to check on their flights with the airport's flight enquiries office," the spokesman said.

The international strike is organised by the Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination (ATCEUC).

The unions say the single sky initiative, which would replace national air zones with new ones based on the busiest air routes, would damage national sovereignty and may be the first step towards privatisation.

French ATCs are to strike for 12 hours, hitting 50 per cent of overflying traffic and a list of some domestic flights, according to the latest ATCEUC information.

Italian ATCs will strike for one hour, while four-hour strikes are to take place in Greece and Portugal.

Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia and the Maastricht Upper Control Centre, which controls the upper airspace of Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and north-west Germany, are also taking limited action.

UK traffic controllers are not involved in the strike.

The Maltese association, which represents all the air traffic controllers and assistant controllers, cannot join their European colleagues in the planned strikes due to the Industrial Relations Act that limits their striking rights, Mr Vassallo explained.

However, he gave his assurance that there was absolutely no impact on safety in the directives given by the association.

"We often guide aircraft to take short cuts, and what we are doing is working strictly by the book," he said.

Besides, the association will instruct all air traffic controllers to drop any directive in case of any unusual circumstances, Mr Vassallo said.

ATCEUC, the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers and the European Transport Federation, have already voiced their concerns over the proposed EU legislation.

ATC centres in Europe number over 50. The European Single Sky Programme will create a few functional blocks of airspace which will control all the upper airspace of Europe.

Each of these blocks, which are undefined, will control the airspace controlled in several different centres.

A current example of this is the Maastricht Upper Control Centre, which controls the upper airspace of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and part of north-west Germany.